APPROVED CYCLING NETWORK
Many residents in Henry Farm may not be aware that on December 15, 2021, City Council approved a master plan for bike lanes in Toronto. As part of this plan, dedicated bike lanes were approved for Sheppard Ave. E. and Don Mills Rd., for design and construction in 2022 – 2024, as per the following table. Please note, currently Don Mills Rd. has one dedicated lane each way for Bus /HOV.
2022-2024 NEAR TERM CYCLING PROGRAM APPROVED NEAR HENRY FARM ON 12/15/2021
| Street | From | To | Activity |
| Sheppard Ave. E. | Bonnington Pl. | Bayview Ave. | Construction in 2022 |
| Sheppard Ave. E. | Bayview Ave. | Betty Sutherland Trail | Complete Design for 2023-2024 Con- struction |
| Sheppard Ave. E. | Betty Sutherland Trail | Brian Dr. | Complete Design for 2024+ Construction |
| Don Mills Rd. | Van Horne Ave. | Esterbrooke Ave. | Secondary Priority for 2022-2024 |
| Don Mills Rd. | Helen Lu Rd. | York Mills Rd. | Secondary Priority for 2022-2024 |
The Cycling Network is being built based on Transform TO’s ambitious goal that active transportation (cycling and walking) will account for 75% of all trips under 5 km citywide by 2050. It begs the question, is this a realistic goal for Suburban North Toronto?
Link to the approved City-wide Cycling Network map
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-173667.pdf
Link to details of City-wide Near-Term Cycling Projects
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-173666.pdf
In addition to these impacts, Councillor Shelley Carroll, as a board member of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), moved a motion on February 25, 2020, for TTC staff to study and report back on a dedicated bus lane along Sheppard Avenue East, between the Leslie TTC Station/future Oriole GO and the Agincourt GO station.
SHEPPARD AVENUE RECONSTRUCTION WITH DEDICATED BICYCLE LANES AND REDUCTION IN VEHICULAR LANES
The city presented a design for Sheppard Avenue E. Road Reconstruction on December 7, 2021. The design shows where dedicated bicycle lanes are being planned for Sheppard Avenue E., resulting in the reduction of vehicle traffic lanes, centre and right-hand turn lanes. This could be detrimental to the flow of vehicle traffic on this section of Sheppard Avenue E. which is currently used (as per city data from 2016) by 40,000 vehicles a day. The current use of bicycles is between 3 and 300 per day.
If you wish to see the detailed design on Sheppard Avenue East Reconstruction, please go to the following link
https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/9451-Sheppard-Willowdale-Public-Mtg-120321-FINAL-web-1206Accessible.pdf , See sample of design features in Exhibit B
Members of the HFCIA Executive have spent extensive time reviewing the current plans for the section of Sheppard Ave. E. from Bonnington Pl. to Leslie and have summarized the changes to vehicular lanes in “Exhibit A” attached.
This section of Sheppard Avenue E. is a major arterial road in the city, on a subway corridor with unprecedented residential housing development and a growing traffic problem. It is also an overflow road when Highway 401 is congested. We are all aware that current traffic congestion is a serious problem at the Sheppard Avenue E. intersections at Bayview, Leslie, Don Mills and Highway 404. Further, Traffic Congestion on Sheppard Avenue will result in Traffic infiltration to Neighbourhood streets.
In 2022, the city estimates a potential of 3,000-9,500 cyclists per day on Sheppard Ave. E., after the dedicated bicycle lanes are installed. This is an enormous growth projection for bicycle use based on the 2016 data of 3 to 300 bicycles per day!
We question decisions based on this data from 2016. Why is the city building dedicated bicycle lanes using these unrealistic assumptions, while reducing vehicular lanes used by 40,000+ vehicles and growing?
